Great moments in law enforcement: Hawaii police argue to keep prostitution exemption

posted at 12:41 pm on March 21, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

Let’s try to understand this through a logical syllogism. In Hawaii, as in most states, prostitution is a crime. Police are supposed to stop crime. Therefore, police should stop prostitution — and not participate in it. However, police in Honolulu have an exemption to participate fully (so to speak) in prostitution in order to, er, stop prostitution. And they would like to keep that exemption in place, brah:

Honolulu police officers have urged lawmakers to keep an exemption in state law that allows undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, touching off a heated debate.

Authorities say they need the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Critics, including human trafficking experts and other police, say it’s unnecessary and could further victimize sex workers, many of whom have been forced into the trade.

Police haven’t said how often — or even if — they use the provision. And when they asked legislators to preserve it, they made assurances that internal policies and procedures are in place to prevent officers from taking advantage of it. …

A Hawaii bill cracking down on prostitution (HB 1926) was originally written to scrap the sex exemption for officers on duty. It was amended to restore that protection after police testimony. The revised proposal passed the state House and will go before a Senate committee Friday.

It’s not immediately clear whether similar provisions are in place elsewhere as state law or department policy. But advocates were shocked that Hawaii exempts police from its prostitution laws, suggesting it’s an invitation for misconduct.

One rationale or at least analogy would be the war on drugs. It’s illegal to buy and sell prohibited drugs (and illegally buy and sell legal drugs too) as well as to use them, but police routinely buy and sell drugs in order to close down trafficking channels. These kinds of undercover operations carry exemptions from prosecution for those illegal acts because we as a society value the end result of the investigations — capturing higher-ups and closing down supply points. We accept that trade-off in large measure because the police who work these undercover assignments don’t receive the normal “benefits” of the trade — the use of the drugs, and the profits.

That’s clearly not the case when police have sex with prostitutes, no matter how dedicated and detached the officer might be. Besides, one of the reasons for criminalizing prostitution is that it operates on the basis of human trafficking and victimizes women and girls. If police are having sex with prostitutes, does that not add to that victimization — or are police only sleeping with fully self-actualized women of age in these stings? If that’s the case, why are they targeting those women rather than try to liberate those being exploited?

This demand for an exemption carries even more irony considering the intent of the bill, emphasis mine:

The Hawaii bill aims to ratchet up penalties on johns and pimps. Selling sex would remain a petty misdemeanor.

Actually, that’s the way to attack prostitution — by drying up the demand. How does that square with the exemption, though, when the cop is the john? Who’s getting arrested in that scenario? The pimp, perhaps, but that part of the transaction takes place before the sex act transpires (if it happens in the cop’s presence at all), not afterward. Prostitution rarely works on unsecured credit.

The Associated Press notes that there isn’t much information on whether other jurisdictions allow for that kind of exemption, but perhaps other states should ask that question.

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So yet another casualty of our heinous and futile war on drugs. Police officers need not obey the same laws as the rest of us. If we are not going to make drugs legal, let’s make prostitution legal and then we can at least put an end to this injustice. Legalizing both would be best, of course.

I haven’t researched this, but I was a beat cop in Honolulu, so I have that going for me.

I suspect this applies to the massage parlor trade. I can tell you that all the arrests for street prostitution take place on the street. I never saw anything different. The U/C will get the hooker to offer sex, set a price, then bring out the bracelets.

AFAIK, in a massage parlor, it’s tougher to prove prostitution. Usually, the conversation is along the lines of “would you like something extra?” “want a happy ending?” Stuff like that. The prostitute can use the defense that she wasn’t talking about sex, just a REALLY GOOD massage.

With the exemption in place, some degree of sexual contact can take place without the prostitute claiming that the cop was simply a john.

Of course, I couldn’t resist writing all my former beat partner brothers tweaking as being the naughty boys they are.

No. Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine. That is not the function of the police. They are to arrest criminals either after having committed a crime. They aren’t supposed to stop crime. The 2nd amendment has a “stop crime” function built into it but not police forces. Yeah, they can wear uniforms and show their faces in public in order to deter a little bit of street crime, but that isn’t their job, really. Pulling people over to check for seatbelts or pulling over innocent people to give them a drunk test is NOT their job and is all very un-Constitutional, to begin with.

The rest of the country has been busting prostitutes without any problems by simply waiting until the “offer” is made and arresting them. Solicitation carries the same penalty as being “caught in the act” in most places.

There is no need for cops to, er, partake.

Sometimes undercover narcotics cops do use drugs to help their cover, though. And undercover cops commit minor crimes for the same reason.

My quibble would be that when the lawbreakers know how far a cop is not allowed to go, they will make that new guy who wants to see where they keep the underage girls cross that line, just to make sure he’s not a cop.

We accept that trade-off in large measure because the police who work these undercover assignments don’t receive the normal “benefits” of the trade — the use of the drugs, and the profits.

You don’t think undercover narcs use drugs? Uhhhhhhhh got some news for you Ed – narcs use drugs. There are special rehab programs and facilities specifically for law enforcement officers who get addicted to various drugs.

As for the prostutition thing, I think S2 of “The Wire” and its episode that included McNulty finding himself in a menage’a’trois with prostitutes during an undercover sting is probably more realistic than uncommon. If the girl is over the age of 18, she isn’t a victim, at least in the sense you’re speaking of. If a cop has sex with a 15 year old prostite, throw the degenerate in prison.

Police haven’t said how often — or even if — they use the provision. And when they asked legislators to preserve it, they made assurances that internal policies and procedures are in place to prevent officers from taking advantage of it. …

The Ninth Circuit Court recently ruled in Peruta v. San Diego that California residents did not have to show a “pressing need” for a concealed weapons license. Thursday, the Ninth Circuit extended that to Hawaii by overturning a district court ruling and thus making the Aloha State a shall-issue state.

Sorry, I have to flex my libertarian bone, so to speak. The world’s oldest profession ought to be legal and safe.

John the Libertarian on March 21, 2014 at 1:04 PM

Yeah. And talk about Vice Squads Gone Wild & Crazy (google it), spending huge amounts of public money in embarrassing debacles that do little but seriously infringe on our rights and freedoms, but doesn’t stop the trade, and we are not going to stop the trade. Keep it off the streets, fine, but let people do it behind closed doors as a consensual transaction because it isn’t the govt’s business to be busting down doors or sleeping with people before cuffing them. Cops should concentrate on real crime, where the violence is non-consensual. Not victimless crimes, and that includes this, as long as they are off the streets.

The Ninth Circuit Court recently ruled in Peruta v. San Diego that California residents did not have to show a “pressing need” for a concealed weapons license. Thursday, the Ninth Circuit extended that to Hawaii by overturning a district court ruling and thus making the Aloha State a shall-issue state.

I hope that turns out to be so, but I’ll believe it when I see it. The Dimmocrat stupid is strong in that state. When I was there, the only person in Hawaii authorized to carry besides us cops was the HPD armorer.

Ah, Hawaii! Having been stationed there both before and after a tour of duty in Southeast Asia, this article only affirms my conviction that the ‘Paradise Islands’ are Chicago with palm trees (and even the palm trees are carefully landscaped.)

The tourist from Ashtabula, Ohio, who thinks he’s a macho man because he’s making out with a hooker younger than his daughter at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, may not realize that the girl, for the past two nights has been servicing 32 sailors off a carrier (and now, apparently, 4 or 5 “investigatory” police officers as well.)”Hook em, Dano!”

Honolulu police officers have urged lawmakers to keep an exemption in state law that allows undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, touching off a heated debate.

Man, that’s sleazy.

And I doubt that it’s just because the water or air is different in Hawaii. It’s police culture in general.

Go back as far as you like in time and you will get story after story after story across this country of police officers engaged in crime. We only hear about the few sacrificial lambs that get caught and manage to bring down too much heat on their superiors.